Verna industrial association urges govt to review ordinance factory policy after fire incident

VERNA: The Verna Industrial Association has urged the government to reconsider its policy on permitting ordnance factories within industrial estates, following a recent fire at Hughes Precision, a company involved in bullet manufacturing on Saturday.

Though the fire at Hughes Precision in the early hours of the morning did not escalate into a major explosion, it has raised serious concerns among industrial stakeholders. The incident occurred around 4 am and was successfully contained by fire personnel, preventing what could have been a large-scale disaster.

Verna Industrial Association president Kalpak Arware expressed his concerns about the potential risks posed by such factories. “We have seen a fire incident in the Hughes Precision company at Verna Industrial Estate. Fortunately, the fire was not a major one and did not happen during regular working hours. The fire was reported at 4 am when fewer people were present, and the firefighters did a great job in dousing the flames. It was an unfortunate incident, but thankfully, there was no loss of human life,” said Arware.

He further pointed out the need to re-evaluate whether such ordnance factories, which deal with explosives and highly inflammable materials, should be allowed to operate in densely packed industrial areas.

“In an industrial estate, we have a dense composition of units placed next to each other, most of which are high-employment generators. When an ordnance factory is set up, they also have warehouses and testing setups involving explosives. The government must take these aspects into consideration,” he stated.

Arware suggested that if such factories must be allowed, they should be located in secluded zones, away from high-density units. “There should be a buffer zone of at least 500 meters to one kilometre around ordnance factories to ensure safety,” he said.

He also acknowledged that such companies operate under strict safety regulations governed by the Directorate of Ordnance and the Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO). However, he reiterated that the government should reconsider the broader policy of situating such units within shared industrial estates.